Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-12-14
BUSINESS MEN.
, LITTLE NATTER WHICH NBRlfS THEIR
PR0FOUNDsATTKNTI0N.
A Pew Pointed Remarks About WaSte-Basket Ad-
vertising-HOw Thousands Of Dollars are
Thrown Away By Our Merchants.

ssneciaIly those in the retail trade, are par
ticularIy anxious TO call the attention OF
the public to what they have for sale. And
this being 90, the REGISTER desires to be
heard for brief period upon the SUBJ
iect Of advertising, to the end that
the channel through which Is to be
obtained the largest return for the money
invested may be pointed out. This
channel undoubtedly lies in the daily
newspapers of the city. Through the col
umns of these journals, seen daily by. almost
every inhabitant OF the town and its sub
p,bs who has intelligence enough to read,
the merchant has a reasonably cheap and
absolutely certain means OF communlca-
ting with the public, and thus gets value
received for his outlay, but when any other
method OF accomplishing the same end Is
sought and tried, the result is dissatisfsc-
ton, anguish and tears. Money is wasted,
time is frritlessly spent and golden oppor-
tunites are allowed to pass by-oiten 10
the serious embarrassment OF the we'll
meaning but misguided notwithstanding
has, perchance, been made the victim OF
some plausible scheme, or has fallen into
some we'll haited trap, and to the sufferers
by this sort of thing this article holds out
warning.
One Of tie most familiar of these siver-
Using methods-and one OF the most worth
less-is the oldtine circular handful or
dodger. There was time in the history
of the world when these things were valu-
able TO the business man or the general
advertiser, but that time has long pass
ed. To embark now in that soft Of adver-
Using is az near absolute uselessIess as 1t ls
possible to get. For instance, every one
has seen here in Wheeling, during times Of
great popular demonstrations like parades
or reunions, the streets fairly carpeted
all over town with thousands of circulars
Of all sizes and colors, not one of which
ever saw any other eye than that OF the
printer In every case the money was
absolutely and literally thrown away,
while the expenditure of one half the sum
in inserting modest card in the daily
papers would have brought substantial
returns.
Upon this subject the Philadelphia
Tunes recently salu:
This is the season of the year when the
grandson OF his grandfather and tOgy bust
ness men generally waste thousands OF
dollars by waste basket advertising. They
seldom advertise il newspapers which now
90 into every family ard are accepted by
all as the legitimate medium for trade to
reach the people. They don't advertise
because their grardlAtEers didn't do it,
obviously forgetful Of the fact that those
grandfathers had no newspapers cfgeneral
circulation through which to reach the
public. A few OF them now aud then ven
ture in newspaper advertising and, true to
their graudiatherS' ideas, they hunt for
what they suppose to be cheap advertising,
and they end in paying half as much for
an advertisement that reaches few thou
sands rs il would cost to reach ten times
as many Of q much more thrifty class.
The strong hold Of the grandson OF his
grandfather in advertising, or what he
suppoSes TO be advertising, Is for the waste
basket. He gets up five or ten OF twenty
thousand circulars, such as his grand
father got up when circulars were neces-
sity in the absence of generally circulated
newspapers; he gets them printed accord
| ing to hi4 fancy; he puts them in envel-
opes; be stamps them with single stamp
which requires them to 90 out unsealedi
he sends them TO the post office, whence
are delivered from house TO house only TO
be thrown into the waste-basket by the
servants. The open circular IS known to
| be an advertisement and from a
fogy dealer, aud they 90 their way
| into the waste. basket in nineteen houses
out of twenty without even attracting the
curiosity of the servant. These circulars,
! if OF the cheapest kind, cost, including
postage printing and envelopes, 81. 90 for
loo; SIS for LOCO; $3.50 for 10000, or
1890 for 20 0O1, and not one in fifty isread
or even seen by the customers they are
expected to reach. The grandson Of his
grandfather doesn't seem To know that for
$3.50. the cost of IL, 600 Of the cheapest cir
culars which are seldom opened and never
read, would place nearly u column adver-
tisement in the three most widely read
newspapers of Philadelphia, where it wonld
reach more than aquarter million OF bona
tide subscribers or purchasers, and where
it would be likely TO be seen by full mill
ion readers. 1t is thus that the grandson
of his grandfather wastes money in waste
basket advertising.
Then there is another class of the bust
ness grandSons OF their grandfathers. They
are progressive; they mean to advertise by
circulars to attract attention; they under
staud that unsealed circulars 20 into the
waste. basket, and they get up pretty cir
Cular, seal it in the envelope, mail II ard
congratulate themselves that they have
made grand stroke of business progress.
And how does their account stand ?
Their circulars, including postage, print
ing and envelopes, cost 3 cents each; %
for 100; $50 for l 900; $500 for 10, 600 and
5000 for 10000. The $500 paid for TO-
600 sealed circulars, most OF which are
pitched into the wastebasket as soon
as opened, would pay for a col
umn advertisement in every morning
newspaper published in Philadelphia,
whereby over 300, 600 subscribers or pur-
chasers would be reached, and nearly q
million and and half of readers secnred:
and taking $500, the cost Of 30, 900 sealed
circulars, which seek the waste basket, a
column advertisement could be put in
every newspaper in Philadelphia, morning
and evening, at the highest rates and in
the best positions, which would practical
ly reach every home in Philadelphia and
in most Of the surrounding country from
which trade is drawn to our city, and two,
three or more of these papers would often
20 into, the same family. Such is the
practical business sagacity OF the more lib
eral grandson Of his grandfather.
1--WE leave ont of the calculation the yet
more liberal aud progressive grandson OF
his grandfather who gets up costly illumi-
mated circulars costing from S. TO SO per
hundred $50 to 800 per 1000; $500 10
81, 900 per 10000, which 20 to limited cir
cles and usually share the fate Of their
cheaper brethren by landing in the waste
basket. They expend as much 10 reach
1000 people, who are not reached at all